Doctors have expressed outrage after Melbourne’s Royal Children’s hospital (RCH) suddenly cancelled a planned panel discussion on the effects of war on children’s health, just days after its chief executive received a letter alleging the event would pose a risk to Jewish staff and patients.

The “Children and War” event was scheduled for 17 September as part of the RCH’s weekly educational and professional development all-staff meetings, known as “grand rounds”. It was described as an exploration of “what war means for children, and how health professionals can help protect and care for those affected”.

In the letter to the RCH chief executive, Dr Peter Steer, seen by Guardian Australia, Sydney-based psychiatrist Dr Doron Samuell argued the event should be cancelled on the basis that Jewi

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